I ACKNOWLEDGE Mike Taylor’s respectful letter (HAS, Dec 2) regarding my letter about funeral costs and clergy perks, but I stand by what I said.

I am a retired lay reader and agree that it was always a bone of contention during my ministry that people who never set foot in church expect it to be there whenever they conveniently need it for whatever purpose.

The costs of maintaining a church are astronomical and usually these are in most cases met by “the faithful few”.

The average attendance at my church on a Sunday in my time as a lay reader was in the region of 50 to 60. The population of Ferryhill is around 15,000, the overall majority of whom are Anglicans so this doesn’t equate favourably with the weekly attendance.

Geoffrey Gregg, Tursdale, County Durham